This invention relates to wipe samplers for measuring pollution levels of various contaminants contained within household dust.
Wipe samplers for determination of pollutant levels have been very crude such as the use of simple tissue paper for dust pick-up and sampling. This procedure is of suspect accuracy in replicability.
Devices for more accurate measurements, particularly with respect to radiation and bacteria contamination have been developed but these devices have been overly complicated thereby restricting their widespread use in large scale pollution testing. Such devices have included spring loaded contact apparatuses to maintain uniformity in pickup. Even more complicated devices include wheeled mechanisms with tracking measurements, and the like, to permit measurement of contaminant pick-up per unit area or volume.
In the past, substantially all the wipe devices have utilized collection elements of known size (area or volume) for a determination of contamination/unit size. As a result, the collection elements generally defined the efficiency of the collection. Accordingly, uniformity in pick-up was critical thereby leading to highly complex and cumbersome devices. Examples of such devices include the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,276, disclosing the finger activated spring loaded pick-up which causes an adhesive film of predetermined size to pick up a radioactive smear sample.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,553 discloses an automated wheeled frame which carries the smear discs and which is spring biased for radioactive contamination measurements. The device has an odometer for measuring the distance travelled over the surface being examined.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,141, discloses sampling with a disc contained within an enclosed housing of defined volume in combination with compressed air to move contaminants in the desired direction.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,091,967; 3,554,039; and 4,848,165, disclose various mechanized wipe samplers, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,572,128, discloses a time operable wheel with a series of wipers to measure dust over a given period of time.